Wisconsin anti-gay group accused of misleading voters in recall elections
Tuesday, August 02, 2011 at 11:45 am
- 8 Comments
Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), a group affiliated with the Family Research Council and a leader in opposing LGBT rights in the state, is being accused by Democrats of sending out absentee ballot applications with an inaccurate deadline for the state’s Aug. 9 recall elections. The mailers were sent in conjunction with Americans for Prosperity, a group founded by the Koch Brothers who have ties to Gov. Scott Walker.
The absentee ballot applications told voters they needed to be returned by Aug. 11, two days after the Aug. 9 deadline set by the state. The address listed on the ballot as “application processing center” belongs to WFA not a county clerk’s office where the ballots must be returned by the deadline.
The mailing was sent out in the districts of Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and Rob Cowles, R-Allouez, who are facing recall challenges from Democrats Shelly Moore and Nancy Nusbaum.
A Democratic voter who received the ballot made a video of the ballot explaining the problems with it.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, two people who have received the inaccurate ballots are in the process of filing complaints against WFA and AFP.
AFP told reporters on Monday that the group was not trying to mislead voters and that the mailing only went out to its members.
Matt Seaholm, state director of AFP, blamed the mistake on a typo, saying his group was not trying to mislead anyone.
“This just went out to our members,” the group’s head Matt Seaholm told the Journal Sentinel. “I’m sure the liberals will try to make a mountain out of a molehill in an attempt to distract voters’ attention from the issues.”
Here’s a copy of the mailings and complaint filed against AFP and WFA which was obtained by the Journal Sentinel:
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Comment posted August 2, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
Apparently, another right-leaning “election watchdog” group is at it as well with misleading information: http://gab.wi.gov/node/1992
Any attorneys out there? Isn’t deliberately misleading people about actually voting illegal? If not, why the hell not?
Comment posted August 2, 2011 @ 1:45 pm
The Koch Bros. are stealing ideas from the onion?
http://www.theonion.com/articles/republicans-urge-minorities-to-get-out-and-vote-on,1241/
Comment posted August 2, 2011 @ 2:14 pm
Has “typo” replaced “out of context” as the sinveling right-wing defnse of the year?
Comment posted August 2, 2011 @ 2:28 pm
“make a mountain out of a molehill in an attempt to distract voters’ attention from the issues.”
The opposition to gay rights summed up in one sentence.
Comment posted August 2, 2011 @ 2:34 pm
The right can’t get what it wants through rational public debate, therefore it uses fraud, and in the recent budget fiasco, a kind of blackmail.
Pingback posted August 3, 2011 @ 7:32 am
[...] The Minnesota Independent is reporting that the anti-gay Wisconsin Family Action group has in conjunction with Americans for Prosperity, a group founded by the Koch Brothers who have ties to Gov. Scott Walker been sending out absentee ballot applications with inaccurate deadline information for the state’s Aug. 9 recall election. The absentee ballot applications tell voters they needed to be returned by Aug. 11, two days after the Aug. 9 deadline set by the state and the address listed on the ballot as “application processing center” belongs to Wisconsin Family Action and not the county clerk’s office where the ballots must be returned by the deadline. [...]
Comment posted August 3, 2011 @ 10:53 am
So the whole address and the date are a typo. Really?
Comment posted August 3, 2011 @ 11:23 am
Yes, Eric (above) you are right:
“The right can’t get what it wants through rational public debate, therefore it uses fraud, and in the recent budget fiasco, a kind of blackmail.” This is because their real agenda of shunting money upward toward the already too wealthy and powerful is incredibly unpopular. If they were truthful, they would disappear overnight. There never has been, and never will be an end to their criminality, for it is what defines them.
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